A few years ago, my son was invited to a friend’s birthday party. They were in preschool at the time, and when the invitation arrived, it was in the shape of a large fish. I thought it was going to be a fishing party.

Nope.

The party was a catfish fry for a 5-year-old. It turns out that fried catfish was the birthday boy’s very favorite meal, so he patterned his party after his favorite fish.

In all honesty, my son liked the bounce house and birthday cake better than he did the catfish, but the adults, on the other hand, were gathered around the deep fryer to grab a golden nugget of catfish as soon as it cooled down enough to eat.

This recipe doesn’t require a deep fryer, and catfish fillets are on sale at Brookshire’s this week.

Enjoy!

Spicy “Fried” Catfish with Lemon Cream

Ingredients

6 (6 oz) catfish fillets

1/2 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

4 egg whites

Vegetable cooking spray

Lemon Cream:

1 (8 oz) ctn light sour cream

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp grated lemon rind

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

Preparation:

Stir together all Lemon Cream ingredients until blended. Cover mixture and chill until ready to serve.

By “family vacation,” I don’t mean just the three of us; I mean all 19 of the people in my family–Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters, spouses and kids. I love it.

It’s not always easy to feed that many people. We pretty much fend for ourselves at breakfast and lunch, but we do share dinners. Each “family” takes a turn providing an evening meal. There’s usually an appetizer, the main meal and “something else,” which is code for dessert IF you ate enough of your nutritious and delicious dinner.

Last night, my sister made dinner. While she was cooking, the kids were HUNGRY so she set out strips of red bell pepper, baby carrots and roasted red pepper hummus. Her kids apparently have been raised on hummus. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that while I LOVE the stuff, my kids haven’t had much exposure to this Middle Eastern spread. The kids dipped THREE POUNDS of baby carrots into my sister’s hummus and devoured them. That’s a lot of baby carrots. Good thing they’re on sale this week at Brookshire’s.

DirectionsBroil red peppers 4 inches from the heat until skins blister, about 5 minutes. With tongs, rotate peppers a quarter turn. Broil and rotate until all sides are blistered and blackened. Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes.

Peel off and discard charred skin. Remove stems and seeds. Place the peppers in a food processor. Add the beans, lemon juice, tahini, oil, garlic and seasonings; cover and process until blended.Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with carrots. Yields3 cups

When I found out I was moving to Texas from Virginia all the way back in 1997 when I accepted a spot in the master’s program for journalism at the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘em!), my friend Wendy gave me a Tex-Mex cookbook.

“Enjoy your adventures in the Lone Star State and learn to cook some yummy food,” she inscribed in the front cover.

Although my plan was never to stay in Texas after I graduated, I find myself still here 15 years later. I’ve had many adventures, and I’ve learned to cook some delicious food (tamales still elude me so if you want to teach me, please send us a message!).

Empanadas are one of my favorites. A little hand-held pie, an empanada can be either sweet or savory. I love this version with ground chuck and some surprise sweetness in the raisins. Delicious.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Heat the oil in a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef chuck and cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper. Add the olives, raisins, carrots and onions and sauté for a couple of minutes until softened. Add the tomato puree and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and cool to room temperature before filling the empanadas.

Grease a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the pastry out to 1/4-to-1/8-inch thickness. With a knife, cut out 4 equal squares measuring 4 1/2-by-5 1/2 inches. Add 2 tablespoons of the cooled beef mixture to the center of the square. Brush the edge of each square with some egg wash and fold to shape into triangles. Crimp the edges with a fork. Transfer the empanadas to the prepared baking sheet and brush them with the remaining egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

When I lived in Germany, I thought I was SO COOL because I used to be able to say, “Oh, I went to France for lunch today,” with an air of nonchalant insouciance suitable for having motored across the border for a Sunday lunch.

In reality, I only lived 40 minutes from the borders of France or Luxembourg, so going to France for lunch was actually closer than getting to the nearest metroplex from where I currently live.

Don’t get me wrong; going to France for lunch was a treat. We used to drive over to Metz, France, which is known for its amazing antiques. When I moved back stateside from Germany years later, I left with many an antique from the Metz markets.

There was a little bistro we used to visit in Metz (try as I might, I cannot remember the name). The bread was heavenly, the roasted chicken divine and the pastries out of this world, especially the peach galette.

A galette, in my terms, is a messy pie. In official I-went-to-Cordon-Bleu terms, a galette is a “freeform, crusty cake.”

A galette looks like a cross between a pizza and a pie, to me. It has a bottom crust folded up over a filling, which can be either sweet or savory. I quickly pounced on this idea as I’ve never mastered a pie crust and even if I can make it taste delicious, it still doesn’t look good. Needless to say, I’m a big fan of the galette.

The peach version at the bistro in Metz was perfectly sweet and lustrously glazed. You can easily make your own at home. I’ve adapted this recipe to use purchased refrigerated pie crust, but you can make your own from Grandma’s favorite recipe, too. This week, peaches and nectarines are on sale at Brookshire’s, so you can try your hand at this French favorite.

DirectionsPreheat the oven with the rack in the middle position to 425°F (220°C). Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the flour and sugar. Toss gently to coat. Sprinkle vanilla extract over the peaches.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg until smooth and set aside.

On a lightly floured, clean, smooth surface, roll out the dough to about a 12-inch diameter. Gently lift up the rolled out dough and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.

If you are using almond paste (not necessary, but a nice addition if you have it), dot the middle 6-inch circle of the dough with the almond paste. (If you can spread it, that’s great. Otherwise, just dot with little bits.) Arrange the peach slices in an overlapping pattern in a single layer in the center of the dough, forming about a 7 or 8-inch circle. Dot with a little butter.

Fold the outer edges of the dough round over the filling, by about 2 inches all the way around, in an accordion fashion. Use a pastry brush to coat the exposed dough with an egg wash (you can cook up the leftover egg as a little scrambled egg, by the way) and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.

Place in the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet, over a rack, for about 15 minutes.

It’s also hard to resist cooking it over an open flame in the height of summertime.

One of the best things about a juicy, tender sirloin, in my opinion, is that you don’t need to do much to it for it to turn out perfectly. However, every now and then it’s fun to add something like this compound butter to enhance the flavor of the steak.

Compound butter is simply mixing different ingredients into your real butter of choice (I like salted sweet cream). The variations are endless, as with this mustard herb butter. I’d even throw in some garlic for good measure.

With top sirloin steaks on sale this week at Brookshire’s, you can even get enough for a midsummer party.

DirectionsMix all the ingredients (except the steaks!) in a bowl. Turn the mixture out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll into a sausage shape. Chill the butter mixture for at least one hour. Remove just before serving on top of the steak and cut into rounds.

Cook the steaks to your liking and leave to rest for 2-3 minutes to allow the juices to run back into the meat.

Just before serving, place a couple of rounds/discs of mustard butter on top of the steaks and let melt.

I’m a little obsessed with avocados. Some “experts” will tell you the sweet potato is a “perfect” food, but I’d put avocados right up there with them.

Buttery, velvety, mild and nutritious, the Hass avocado, with its green-to-black bumpy skin and luscious flesh, was cultivated and patented by Rudolph Hass in 1935. Hass avocados are known as the “year-round avocado” because of their seasonal availability and are grown in many places in the United States, making them readily available in your local Brookshire’s.

Avocados have more potassium than a banana, are low in calories and are chock full of “good” fats, not to mention they’re good for more than guacamole. Try this recipe today, while avocados are on sale at Brookshire’s.

Directions:To make the dressing, whisk together orange juice, lime juice, zest, pepper, salt and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

To make the salad, thaw shrimp and drain off any excess liquid. In a medium bowl, combine shrimp with mint, cilantro, cheese, cucumber and tomatoes. Split avocados and discard pits.

With a table knife, gently score flesh of avocado without splitting the shell. Scoop out avocado and add to shrimp salad, reserving avocado shells. Pour half of the dressing over the salad and gently toss to coat. In another bowl, toss romaine with remaining dressing. To serve, divide lettuce among plates. Set avocado shells on greens and fill with shrimp salad. Garnish with additional cheese, mint and cilantro leaves, and serve.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and you’re bound to be grilling out on this wonderful holiday. I know I’m taking my kids to the lake before dinner and to fireworks after dinner, so I need something quick for the grill that the boys will still love.

Enter Tyson boneless, skinless chicken strips. These grill up quickly AND they’re on sale this week.

Even during the hot summer months, I love a good pasta dish. Hey, it’s the Italian in me. This pasta dish combines the best of summer and Cajun heat with hearty pasta for a dish that’s sure to please.

Brookshire’s Boneless Fryer Breasts or Chicken Tenders are on sale this week, so stock up. Either version would be great for this recipe, which could even be served as a side dish on the Fourth of July.

Any of us who are “of a certain age” can certainly sing the Oscar Mayer jingle, but when it comes down to actually using the popular meat product from our childhood, it’s a different story.

What do you do with bologna?

I had it on white bread, with American cheese, mustard and lettuce in my Holly Hobbie lunch box on Mondays.

How did YOU eat bologna as a child?

Recipes today are much more sophisticated. You can pickle bologna. You can use it in a ham loaf. You can barbecue it or use it in a spread, salad or soup. Bologna, the other-other white meat, can be substituted for bacon, or even used in…get ready for it…cake.

But today, we’re using bologna like a breakfast meat in an omelet-type muffin.

And since Oscar Mayer Bologna or Salami is on sale this week at Brookshire’s, it’s double the value for these tasty treats.

I once knew a great man who always wore a cowboy hat and boots, never left home without his bolo tie and starched shirts, and was as much a cowboy as the wranglers I’ve met at the rodeo.

Funny thing was, he wasn’t even born in this country. He and his father immigrated to New York state from Sweden when he was just a boy, early in the 20th century. He grew up on Long Island but eventually joined, what was then, the Army Air Corps and was stationed in San Antonio.

That was all it took.

From that moment on, he was a Texan. He married a yellow rose of Texas, raised his children in Texas, and, eventually, died in the state he’d adopted and loved.

He subscribed to a magazine called “Cowboys and Indians.” He went on “shoots” where the “old-timers” (his words, not mine) would wear old cowboy clothes and compete in feats of accuracy. He handcrafted muzzleloaders, lovingly carving their stocks out of wood and fashioning their barrels. Silversmithing was his hobby, and he made the most gorgeous pieces of jewelry out of silver and often turquoise.

And when I think of him, I think of big, juicy, thick bone-in rib eye steaks. Father’s Day is coming up and this is what we always grilled. Fittingly, the bone-in rib eye is often called the “cowboy steak.”

There aren’t many “recipes” for a bone-in rib eye, per se, because you don’t want to take away from the flavor of the meat.

You DO want to let it sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes before grilling. You DO want to salt and pepper your steak. You DO want to slap it on the grill over a high flame to sear it and seal in the juices, then turn the temperature down or move to indirect heat to finish the cooking process. And you DO want to let it rest for about five minutes before cutting into it. Finally, you DO want to buy a bone-in-rib eye, on sale at Brookshire’s, this week.